Harehills, crime: Spate of taxi break-ins a 'disaster' for Leeds drivers as police meeting arranged

Coun Mothin Ali said that he had been told of “around 20” break-ins of cars and taxis around the area over the last two weeks.

One delivery driver got in touch with the YEP, saying that his car window had been broken twice in 10 days and that it had put him in a “financial disaster”.

The driver said that both incidents had happened between 5am and 6am and that the most recent incident happened on Saturday.

He said: “I’m stressing at home, jobless, waiting for Monday so my car can be fixed.

“Now I’m helpless and feeling unsafe and feel like running away from Harehills.”

Coun Ali said: “It feels like there’s been loads of small scale crime and in the last two weeks it has really picked up.”

He said that taxi drivers are particularly affected by the break-ins as it means they are unable to work until the windows are fixed.

Coun Ali added that the thieves are only stealing “really basic things” from the cars, like change and navigation devices.

An open meeting has been arranged with police at the Compton Centre for 1pm next Tuesday (November 12).

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A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Officers from the Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Team are continuing to work alongside crime team colleagues and partner agencies to proactively target thefts from motor vehicles in the Harehills area.

“This work, which will be sustained throughout the darker nights period and into the New Year, includes activity to identify and target known offenders, along with increased patrols being deployed into hotspot areas at key times to disrupt and deter any further offences.”